FTSE steadies near recent lows, HSBC leads banks

Britain’s top share index steadied near a recent two-week low on Wednesday, with weaker commodities and property-related stocks offsetting an HSBC-led rally in banking stocks.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.02 percent in morning trading after hitting its lowest since mid-July in the previous session. The index’s 16-percent rally since a post-Brexit slump is losing steam, with the market facing some selling pressure in the past days.

Banks were the top performers, with HSBC helping the UK banking index to gain 2 percent.

HSBC shares rose 3.3 percent after Europe’s biggest bank cheered investors by announcing plans to buy back up to $2.5 billion of its shares, despite reporting a 29 percent slump in its first-half profits.

Shares in Rio Tinto were down around 1 percent, also after the global miner reported a 47 percent slump in first-half profit to its weakest in 12 years. However, losses were limited as it surprised the market with a higher-than-expected dividend.

Property-related stocks also fell on lingering concerns about the pace of economic growth in Britain after the country voted in late June to leave the European Union.

A closely watched business survey said on Wednesday that Britain’s economy was shrinking at its fastest rate since the 2008-09 financial crisis, making a Bank of England rate cut on Thursday “a foregone conclusion”.